SLOW COOKER BROWNIE PUDDING

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 box Brownie Mix (approximately 18 ounces, get the 9x13 pan size)
• Eggs, water, and oil called for on the brownie mix box
• 1 package (about 3.9 ounces) instant chocolate or chocolate fudge pudding mix
• 2 cups milk (regular or nonfat)
• Ice cream or whipped cream for serving, optional
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Cooking Tips :

How To Cook Like A Culinary Master

Many people attempt to cook at some point in their lives, but often, they fail. Their failure may result in recipes not turning out correctly, or even kitchen disasters such as burning food. If this has happened to you, then the cooking tips found in this article should help you.

Finish your prep work in advance. The prep work should be done before you even start cooking. Cooking with a deadline to meet can become stressful. Try to complete your preparations, so you can avoid scrambling later on.

When stir-frying meat, it should be thinly sliced on the bias. Cutting meat thinly can be difficult and time-consuming. When you remove the meat from the freezer, it should be firm, not frozen. Slice across the meat's grain while holding the knife at a 45-degree angle.

If you are boiling pasta, make sure that you do not put too much in the pot. This will not cook your food all the way through and will taste very raw and thick. Try to limit the amount of pasta that you put in the pot to maximize taste and quality.

A coffee grinder isn't just for coffee. A coffee grinder actually works just as well as a food processor for some jobs. This is especially true with small jobs when you don't want the trouble of lugging out a huge processor and then having to wash all the parts. Nuts and peppercorns grind perfectly in a coffee grinder, even sugar if you need a quick substitute for powdered sugar in a recipe.

Layered bar cookies, fudge and chewy brownies often fall apart or get torn up from trying to evenly cut them into squares. A good rotary pizza cutter can be used to accomplish this task without worrying about a sharp knife slipping and causing an injury. Make some light guidelines in your food with the tip of a knife first and follow up with the pizza cutter for perfectly cut bars, brownies and fudge every time.

Know the gender of your eggplant! There are both male and female eggplants, and it pays to know the difference. The seeds of an eggplant can be very bitter. A female eggplant's seeds have a tendency to be more bitter than those of a male eggplant. You can identify a male eggplant by its base - it will be smooth and round, whereas the female base is more oval in shape and deeply indented.

Cooking is all about preparation. To take the edge of cooking, whether it is a small appetizer, simple dish, full nine course meal, or elegant dessert, prepare for your cooking a day or two ahead. Plan what you are going to make and for how many people you are going to make it for. Gather your ingredients ahead of time to ensure that you won't have to rush.

When buying ingredients for recipes make sure you read the labels. Lots of the time, cooking supplies have hidden ingredients that may be bad for your health. Make sure that an item does not contain too much salt or sugar. Both of those substances can damage the body and lead to serious health issues.

When picking out a melon for purchase, make sure that it is still fresh. Many times, people get sick from melons that have gone bad. You can check its freshness by checking the part of the melon that was connected to the vine. If it is soft, then the melon is still good.

Don't spend too much time buying books and searching the Internet for exotic fare from around the world and forget the recipes that your family has served for years. Often the most basic recipes are the most cherished ones. Make sure you write those recipes down. No matter how simple they are, there may be a day when a family member wants them.

Blot raw meat before you grill or sear it. One smart move in the kitchen is to remove the moisture from ground meats. Leaving it can cause the liquid to release when cooking. Sizzling will occur. This will cause the ground beef to steam, instead of searing.

Use a few tablespoons of sugar in the boiling water when cooking orange and yellow vegetables. Foods like squash and corn have a natural sweetness to them that is brought out when cooked in sugared water. This is a great way to get some healthy veggies into a kids diet as well as yours.

Put vegetables in cold water after you blanch them. Blanching - also known as boiling - a vegetable can be a tasty way to prepare them. Unfortunately, it can quite literally "blanch" your veggies. While this is only an aesthetic problem, it can be easily avoided. By putting the vegetables in cold water after blanching, they will retain their green color.

If you are preparing a whole chicken or turkey, take the time to season under the skin as part of your preparation. By gently sliding your fingers between the skin and meat in the breast area and thigh area, you can create room for seasoning. Blend your preferred herbs and spices and slowly rub them against the meat under the skin. The skin will lock in juices and allow your seasoning to absorb into the meat.

A foolproof way to clarify butter. Melt several sticks of butter over low heat in a heavy-based saucepan. When you see froth on the top, solid particles on the bottom, and a clear yellow liquid in between, remove the pan from the heat. Skim the froth off the top, and strain the clarified liquid into a container, leaving the milk solids behind.

When it comes to cooking, try to do all of your preparatory work before you even start cooking. Not only will this make your cooking experience much more desirable and stress free, but you will also look a lot more professional to anybody that you may be trying to impress.

As stated before, many people attempt to cook, but they often fail. Whatever the reason is for their failure, it can result in some kitchen disasters. Using the cooking tips found in the article above, you can prevent kitchen disasters and improve your skills, making you a better cook in no time.

Becoming The Chef You've Always Wanted To Be!

You want to find the best tips available for how to make sure that your cooking is not only healthy, but also tastes good. This is an important combination to consider when making sure that both you and everyone eating your food is happy. Here are some great tips to follow.

When sauteing ingredients in a fry pan ensure that you don't overcrowd the pan with too much food. Trying to cook too much at once will only lower the temperature of the pan and lead to steaming instead of browning. It is wiser to saute the ingredients in two separate batches, if necessary, and this will maintain the quality of cooking.

When you are cutting garlic, one of the things that you can do is to put it in a plastic bag before you cut. Then, slice the garlic cloves inside the bag to protect your board from smelling. This will help to reduce the pungent odor that garlic can give off.

If you are boiling pasta, make sure that you do not put too much in the pot. This will not cook your food all the way through and will taste very raw and thick. Try to limit the amount of pasta that you put in the pot to maximize taste and quality.

If you have a family, you will want to implement a process for cleaning up after you cook your meal. This is very important as you will want to conserve the excess food that you do not eat for future servings. Post meal cleanup is just as important as pre-meal preparation.

Cook pasta for one minute less than instructed on the box and then place the pasta in a sauce pan. By making pasta this way, the sauce will absorb into the pasta and the overall quality of your meal will be better. You can even add some spices into the saucepan.

Don't cook with wines that you don't enjoy drinking. If you cook with an unfamiliar wine, you run the risk of disliking the taste of the wine and having it ruin your food. Cooking wines are available.

Have you ever had to eat a cauliflower that was more off white then actually white? It can make people turn away from this wonderful vegetable. To keep that white color in your produce, add some milk to the water when cooking. This will not change the taste, just the look.

Many herbs and veggies make odors on your cutting board no matter how many times you clean it. Label the ending of your chopping board by marking it with ink. This will help you to identify the different sides of the board.

Use fresh carrots often in your cooking. They are versatile and easy to obtain. Carrots are very rich in vitamins and minerals that can help to keep you healthy. One of the best ways to sneak there goodness into your recipes is to use carrots in place of sugar.

Put food into a hot pan instead of trying to cook it while the pan is still cold. The pan should already be at the desired temperature before you start cooking. This will ensure that the food is cooked evenly and thoroughly. You want to see the steam rising off the pan when you start cooking.

Keep your pantry well stocked with a selection of canned meats. You never know when the power might go out for a day or two and you can't get to the store. Canned hams, salmon, or other canned meats can save the day. Just add a few other ingredients from your pantry and you'll have a great meal!

While some foods need to be cooked at a high temperatures for short times, larger foods need to be cooked at lower temperatures for longer times. Doing so will allow the larger foods to slowly release their flavors as they cook and to be cooked evenly without under or over cooking.

If you are one of those people that does not eat a lot of vegetables so the fresh veggies you buy go bad very fast you should buy frozen vegetables. Frozen vegetables are flash frozen so they are the same as eating fresh veggies and you only have to take as much as you need from the package and return the rest to the freezer.

If you are deep frying, make sure to use tongs to add the food to the hot oil. If you submerge the food below the surface of the oil with the tongs for about five seconds before you "drop" it in, the outside of whatever you are deep frying is sealed. This prevents it from sticking to other food in the oil.

If you envy the straightness of restaurant bacon, here's an easy tip that will help you get the same effect. Simply dip each slice of bacon into cold water before you place it in the frying pan. This keeps the bacon strips from becoming curly and gives a straighter edge.

Freeze some ice tea and other cold drinks up in ice cube trays. You can use the frozen drink cubes as ice on those particularly hot days. That way, your drink won't be diluted by the quickly melting ice cubes. It makes for a nice change, not having to run back and forth to the refrigerator, just to top off your drink glass.

Store your cooking spices in a cool dry place. This will ensure the longevity and potency of the flavors in your herbs and spices. A dark cabinet away from the stove is the ideal storage place. Spices kept in bright, hot environments usually fail to maintain their flavor long before any expiration date comes.

To summarize, you want to make sure that not only are you preparing a delicious meal, but that you are doing so in a manner that is healthy. This can be hard to do unless you know some of the key tips provided here in this article. Hopefully, they will work for you!